<p>Everybody listen up. This is the answer to all your- what “major”, “EC”, “shadowing”, “volunteer opp” questions is best?
Do what you love. You’ll do it best, it won’t seem like work, and you won’t begrudge the time you spend away from the TV.</p>
<p>Hey Koryat,
</p>
<p>I think med schools have tried to do this by taking science vs. overall GPA into account. I’m not sure if engineering courses count as science courses though. If I were you I would check with your premed advisor about this.</p>
<p>Hey Gummy 101,
I’ve discussed international admissions in depth in the first couple of pages of this thread. Check it out and let me know if you need clarification on anything.</p>
<p>Engineering courses are not counted as science courses except for a few exceptions. </p>
<p>As for why engineering majors are not given a break on their GPA, the subject has already been beaten to death. You can do a search for those topics.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback ns89! Let me know if I can ever help you with anything.</p>
<p>Even if engineers get <em>some</em> slack on their GPAs, we’d be talking about something in the range of 0.1 points. Not the astronomical adjustment that some posters might be looking for.</p>
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<p>As far as I’m concerned the summer after M1 is a free summer. Most people at my school did research because the school subsidized it, but others went on vacation, did serivice abroad, etc. The sky’s the limit. I think with your interest in policy, an internship in D.C. is a fabulous idea.</p>
<p>Hi everyone,
Thanks again for your wonderful questions, you guys provide me with such a fabulous procrastination activity. Lately I have been getting so many private messages that it’s really hard to keep up with them. Most of these private messages give me a list of undergraduate colleges and then ask me to decide where the sender should go. **My answer is always the same, “You should go to the school that is the best fit for you and where you’ll be happiest. You’ll do better there.” ** </p>
<p>I then feel bad because I wish I could offer better advice…but there really is no better advice. I understand that you guys are really in a stressful position right now–times of transition are always stressful–and I understand the difficult decision you are facing, but I really can’t tell you where to go. I had thought about telling students where I would go if I were them, but I don’t want to influence someone’s decision one way or the other because they’re the one who has to live with the decision…so that said, please try to read through this thread before sending me a private message because I think they’re starting to bounce back to the senders now because my inbox is full. 
But if you really have a question that you think hasn’t been answered or needs to be clarified, please feel free to send me a PM.</p>
<p>Med School Humor: </p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Scrubin’](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y8G4s1yxi0]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y8G4s1yxi0)</p>
<p>This one too:
[YouTube</a> - Diagnosis Wenckebach](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVxJJ2DBPiQ]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVxJJ2DBPiQ)</p>
<p>See med students have fun too! :)</p>
<p>^ haha dude those are definitely my two favorites. There are some other good ones:</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Glomerulus](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpOsJMug7GE]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpOsJMug7GE)</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Jizz In My Pants(Scrubs/Medical School Parody)](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Va1TGK_kU]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Va1TGK_kU)</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - AMATEUR TRANSPLANTS: Anaesthetists Hymn LIVE](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZl9tRqjoQ]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZl9tRqjoQ)</p>
<p>I liked those, Icarus.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ve caught up on all my private messages…so if you haven’t gotten a response, please send your message again. :)</p>
<p>Hi Princess,
Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions …
- Is it possible to do quite well on the MCAT prior to taking college level physics (with an AP background)?
- How important is it to also have clinical experience if an applicant has strongly focused on community type work (“better the world” experience as you alluded to in another post)? Would this combined with shadowing be reasonable?</p>
<p>Hi TM – I’m no PND, but I can answer a couple of them.</p>
<p>1.) It is possible, and I’m an example of this. In fact, I had never even taken AP Physics, and had to pick it up on the spot. If there’s any doubt, though, better safe than sorry. I do think that in this scenario, it’s absolutely mandatory to take a prep course.</p>
<p>2.) If the shadowing experience was pretty time-intensive AND the applicant was prepared to write and speak meaningfully about it, I’d think that would be good enough. I don’t feel totally sure about this one and will be interested to see what others say.</p>
<p>Hi Twinmom,
- I think it depends on the level of physics offered during high school…not all AP courses are created equal. If you have a solid understanding of mechanics, electricity and magnetism, you should be okay. Of course, most would say that you only really know if you have a solid understanding if you take the college course and ace it. I personally, would not have wanted to tackle the MCAT without having taken the college physics course. I took a tough, calculus-based physics class as an undergrad, and had no problem with the physics on the MCAT. I don’t think that a course of the caliber that I took is required to do well on the MCAT, but the better the foundation, the better you will be at applying basic physics concepts to tough problems on the MCAT. </p>
<ol>
<li>The ideal applicant would have an appropriate amount of clinical experience. But before you all go jump into EMT training programs or beat up your friend for the real-life CPR opportunity :), you need to consider why med schools want to see this. They want to see that you’ve seen medicine in a real context and know what you’re getting yourself into. They want to see that you’re not expecting to be the next McDreamy, but that you have realistic expectations and understand both the benefits and the shortcomings of a career in medicine. They also want you to think critically about healthcare in this country and how you fit into the grand scheme of things. You better be able to answer in an interview why you want to be a doctor and not a nurse (they both help people, they both work in healthcare, etc). They are not expecting, however, that at the age of 22 or 23 (when most apply to med school), you would have started a clinic in Africa, saved a life, or performed a surgery in a remote village in Fiji (although you may be surprised at what your med school classmates have accomplished). I would say regular shadowing with a doctor where you get to know that doctor and his/her patients would suffice. Any more experience than that, such as volunteering at a hospital, working a health fair, offering free diabetes screening in the community, etc, would only add to an applicant’s appeal. </li>
</ol>
<p>I say that community service can say more about a person than clinical experiences because it’s one of the few areas where at their current level of experience pre-medical students can really flex their “helping people” muscles. (Also, these categories aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive; one could definitely do community service that’s medically related.) Community service also provides great opportunities to show leadership skills, teamwork and initiative. Thus an excellent community service resume demonstrates one’s dedication to helping others and says a lot about that person’s character. These type of opportunities also provide great anecdotes for interviews and personal statements.</p>
<p>P.S. BluedevilMike is an anomaly…most people wouldn’t be able to pick up physics that quickly on their own. How did u do that Mike?</p>
<p>I just got a PM asking if I watch TV. For the record: I watch more TV now in med school than I did as an undergrad…We’ll see how it goes beginning on April 30th when I start studing for the boards, AKA USMLE Step 1, AKA you have no life for 5 weeks.</p>
<p>Units analysis. Lots and lots of units analysis. The MCAT gives you most of the constants you need, and after that just looking at the units in an equation can usually give you the formula you need.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend this for everyone, but the point is that you can give it a shot and see where you end up on a Kaplan practice test. If it’s not going very well, you can delay your exam.</p>
<p>Thanks, Princess and BDM. My daughter is planning on taking the standard Kaplan course. They also offer a physics prep course and she wasn’t sure if this was something she should consider as well or if it was just a sales pitch.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t bother. If she needs to learn physics (i.e. is struggling on practice tests’ physics sections), she can always put off the MCAT until after she’s actually taken physics from college.</p>